This story was reported and written by Radio IQ.
It’s been long enough now, that for some people, smoking in restaurants has always been off limits. For others, just a distant memory.
Virginia’s Indoor Clean Air Act didn’t take effect until some 14 years after California became the first state to ban smoking in restaurants.
It’s hard to quantify the cause and effect of the law on consumer habits, but statistics in the years since the law took effect do point to a definite trend.
Sarah Birckhead, Outreach Coordinator of the Virginia Department of Health’s Tobacco Control Program, provides some numbers, “In 2009, the Virginia Smoking rate was 20%. The latest rate in 2021, the Virginia rate has dropped to 12.44%. So, we have seen a significant decline in smoking rates, which benefits not only those individuals who have quit using cigarettes or any tobacco product, but also those individuals around them.”
While Virginia has made gains, Birckhead says there is still a long way to go, “The American Lung Association gives a Tobacco Control Report every year. And Virginia receives an “F” in terms of their indoor air.”
That grade is due in great part to the fact that the Indoor Clean Air Act does not apply to 100% of public places. All state's laws are different, and Virginia is well down the list on overall effectiveness and safety to the public when it comes to smoking laws.
Birckhead concludes, “And so, there are a lot of areas that we can still strengthen to support all Virginians.”
When the law took effect, most restaurants complied. Other establishments resisted and their patrons protested the change. Even now, after a decade and a half, some establishments still opt to provide a smoking allowed environment for their customers – including a handful in the Roanoke area.
Robin Howery is the owner/operator of W.R. Brews. She says the choice to provide a smoker-friendly environment goes beyond the matter of simple economics.
“I do allow it because my patrons do smoke. It is lucrative. Plus, your customers are just like family. They’re not strangers off the street and you treat them like family, and you get the respect in return from them,” says Howery.
Tony Bonds likes his smokes. And he’s thankful that places like W.R. Brews are still around. I spoke with him in between games of billiards.
“It’s important when you havin’ a good time and you’re out. You don’t want to have to put the pool sticks down to run outside to smoke. Or right after you finish eating, you get to sit there at the table or at the bar and light up your cigarette,” said Bonds.
So how do some establishments fly in the face of the law? Patrol Captain Andrew Pulley of the Roanoke City Police Department offers his thoughts, “I don’t want to diminish the importance of the health effects of secondhand smoke. But that’s not something that’s high on our target list, if you will - to go out and proactively enforce.”
VDH inspection records, which are kept on file for only three years, indicate that some restaurants frequently fall in and out of compliance of the Indoor Clean Air Act.
Captain Pulley continues, “We’ve never formed a task force to go investigate to make sure everybody is in compliance with this.”
The health department and the police operate independently, and Pulley told me that they don’t take action unless a formal complaint is made by the public.
Should a complaint lead to a violation, the fine is nominal. Pulley cites the code, “The proprietor of the restaurant who fails to comply with the requirements of the section shall be subject to a civil penalty of not more than twenty-five dollars.”
Back at WR Brews, Robin Howery hopes it will be left up to the customers to decide, “They know which restaurants and bars are smoking and which are not. And if they want to go to a non-smoking environment, they patronize that bar. There is enough bars and enough alcohol up and down Williamson Road for everybody to get a piece of the action.”
The Indoor Clean Air Act has made a difference. But even after the smoke has had fifteen years to settle, it has proven to be a law only as effective as its enforcement.
